Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Day 48 - 101 Days of Awesome

Roger Ebert passed away on April 4. He was criticized a lot by people who didn't really like movies. "He doesn't like any good movies," they would say. "He only likes artsy movies." No. The truth is, he loved movies. He just loved good movies.

It didn't totally sink in with me until I started watching 30-50 movies a year how jaded you can really get by a boring, lousy, seen-it-all-before movie. And some interested special effects just aren't enough to justify it. Most people go to just a few movies a year. They're going less to see that movie than to escape. I get it. Just don't read what the critics have to say, because they're writing for people who want to see good movies.

Roger Ebert wrote for me. And not just movies - his blogs were also great. I posted in this very blog about something he wrote about evolution that made someone like me, a science novice, understand it even better. But when I saw a movie I didn't especially like but he did, he made me see the merit of the movie. I didn't always agree, but I got it.

People seem to enjoy my year end top ten list. Roger Ebert is gone. I don't have that go to critic anymore I can rely on. My list will certainly suffer for it. Rogert Ebert is awesome.